Independent participatory media for Iran

Situation of women political prisoners in Iranain prisons is cause for grave concern, families of Iranian political prisoners say in a statement that reports on the conditions of jailed female activists in the quarantine section of Evin Prison.

According to the statement published on Kaleme Websit, women in the political prison section of Evin lost their phone privileges three months ago without any warning and were later transferred to a closed hall referred to as the notorious Methadone Section used for drug-addicted prisoners going threw withdrawal symptoms.

The families maintain that the prisoners are being denied basic rights.They add that in the Methadone Hall as in the mass cells of section 209, prisoners are deprived of “any freedom of action” and some are even obliged to sleep on the floor due to lack of beds or cots.

The prisoners, the families report, are only allowed 45 minutes of fresh air every day and for the rest of the day remain in the closed hall and are not allowed to participate in the cultural and recreation activities of the prison while also denied telephones and visits from their kin.

They go on to add that whiel the judiciary refuses to allow any of these prisoner a furlough, they are kept under such conditions that “are even more deplorable that the situation of male political prisoners.”

Following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed victory in the 2009 presidential elections, mass protests have been silenced with heavy crackdown on protesters and widespread arrest of social and political activists. Currently tens of women political activists are in Islamic Republic prisons serving heavy sentences or awaiting finalization of their sentences.